ninjascott Posted October 4, 2009 Report Share Posted October 4, 2009 Ok you have great advice so here is your chance to help me out. I have a 99 dodge dakota with a 318 v8 (5.2l). I'veonly had the truck for a short time the other day it was cold in the morning so i turned on the heat to find cold air blowing in my face. so I checked the coolant level it was a little low it took about a uart of anti-freeze.it then had heat but not hot as it should be. The thermost seemstobe working. I notice alight smell of anti-freeze when driving. My initial thought would be to change the thermostat. my question is there are three temp available stock 192 180 or 160. which one will give me the most heat? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidgetTodd Posted October 4, 2009 Report Share Posted October 4, 2009 192 give the most heat but Ill bet you got a heater core problem or door prob in the core box not a thermostat prob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldschoolsdime92 Posted October 4, 2009 Report Share Posted October 4, 2009 ill put 5 on it that its the heater core. you can toss the 192 thermostat in there, but heater core problems are fairly common. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReconRat Posted October 4, 2009 Report Share Posted October 4, 2009 (edited) Yeah... 192 gives more heat, but a 180 will give you heat faster in the mornings.I've tried them all, and I'll stick with a 180. At least when used on a V8.When I tried a 160, the air coming out was noticeably not as hot, I didn't like it.Using a different thermostat can sometimes confuse the vehicle's computer.Ditto on the some sort of problem. I'd check the hoses under the hood, to see if they feel warm. Wait for the radiator supply hose to feel warm at the top of the radiator. (Do not stick body parts into the fan blade.) If the supply and return hoses to the heater core are warm, the problem is probably under the dash, a blower door or something. If only one hose is warm and the other cold, the heater core isn't flowing any fluids through it. Kinda rare, but it happens.If you spilled even a small amount of anti-freeze, you would probably smell it. But if the smell was there before, you might want to find the leak before it gets worse. It seems that anti-freeze leaks seldom get better. Edited October 4, 2009 by ReconRat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
f4isvt Posted October 4, 2009 Report Share Posted October 4, 2009 nothing new to add so what they said. I would make sure the blend door is working and if it is next suspect would be heater core. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gixxie750 Posted October 4, 2009 Report Share Posted October 4, 2009 try reverse flushing the system with garden hose. Replace thermostat with the 180 one for great motor life. If that doesnt work replace core. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninjascott Posted October 4, 2009 Author Report Share Posted October 4, 2009 How do I flush the heater core? Do I need to take it out or will unhookining the hoses and a garden hose work? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidgetTodd Posted October 4, 2009 Report Share Posted October 4, 2009 I would unhook the heater hoses and connect a garden hose to the outlet heater hose and see what comes out of the other one Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MidgetTodd Posted October 4, 2009 Report Share Posted October 4, 2009 then hook it all back up run some flush thru the system and back flush the whole thing . then pressurerize the system and check for leaks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ReconRat Posted October 4, 2009 Report Share Posted October 4, 2009 Generally just forcing water through the hoses will work fine. If the water won't go through, that's a problem with the hoses or heater core. Did you check to see if the heater core hoses get warm? If they don't, I'd try flushing through both hoses. If they do, I would still bet on a busted or stuck ventilation control door. One door flips back and forth between vent and heat (or air conditioning on some). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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